Duchao Zhang

Recovery of tin from metal powders of waste printed circuit boards

To avoid the adverse effects of tin on the smelting process used to recover copper from metal powders of waste printed circuit boards, an effective process is proposed that selectively extracts tin and its associated metals. That impacts of alkaline pressure oxidation leaching parameters on metal conversion were systematically investigated. The results showed that Sn, Pb, Al and small amounts of Zn in the metal powders were leached out, leaving copper residue. By optimizing the conditions, leaching recovery of 98.2%, 77.6%, 78.3 and 6.8% for Sn, Pb, Al and Zn, respectively, were achieved. Subsequently, more than 99.9% of Pb and Zn in the leaching solution were removed as a mixture of PbS-ZnS in the purification process, which can be used as a raw material in Pb smelting. Approximately 86.2% of Sn in the purified solution was recovered by electrowinning, and the purity of the cathode tin was over 99.8%.

Nickel ion removal by porous potassium magnesium titanate made from plate-like crystals

Plate-like potassium magnesium titanate (KMTO) powder prepared by molten salt growth method and the KMTO porous ceramic synthesised by polymeric sponge replication method were used as sorbents to remove nickel ions from wastewater. Both powder and porous ceramic were characterised by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The maximum adsorption capacities of powder and porous ceramic were 96 and 24 mg g− 1 respectively at a pH value of 6 (25°C). However, the removal efficiencies of both could reach up to 99%. Moreover, the adsorption kinetics for the KMTO powder and the porous ceramics followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the equilibrium data for the KMTO powder fitted the Langmuir isothermal model well, while the porous ceramics fitted with the Freundlich model. The mechanism of the adsorption by the KMTO powder and the porous ceramic was ion exchange. It was also shown that the nickel saturated KMTO powder and the porous ceramics were stable in leaching tests.

Selection on the Process of Enriching Gold by Smelting from Refractory Gold Ores

To overcome the shortcomings of traditional cyanidation process for refractory gold ores, the smelting processes have been proposed. These smelting processes could be divided into two kinds, namely, indirect smelting and direct smelting. In the indirect smelting process, the calcine of refractory gold ores are added in the copper or lead smelting processes during which gold can be enriched into copper matte or crude lead. Then gold is extracted from the anode slimes. In the direct smelting process, refractory gold ores are smelted directly with gold enriched into ferrous matte. Then gold is extracted from ferrous matte. Based on the direct smelting process, the metallurgy-beneficiation united process for refractory gold ores has been proposed. In this process, gold is firstly enriched into ferrous matte by direct smelting, then the grinding-flotation process is used to obtain gold-rich sulfurous iron ore, and finally gold is extracted via hydrometallurgical method. The metallurgy-beneficiation united process has advantages of high gold recovery ratio, environment-friendly and low cost, which provides a new idea for the extraction of gold from refractory gold ores.

Selection on the Process for Removing and Recovering Antimony from Antimonial Refractory Gold Ores

It is well known that the gold ores containing a high content of arsenic and antimony are very refractory. In this paper, the adverse effect of antimony on the extraction of gold by pretreatment-cyanide leaching was discussed in detail. Moreover, these processes of removing and recovering antimony from alkaline sodium sulfide or hydrochloric acid systems were introduced. Last but not the least, a novel cleaning technology for recovering antimony from refractory gold ores was proposed. Antimony was dissolved into the solution with sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide as leaching agents. And then pressure oxidation technology was applied to prepare sodium pyroantimonate from sodium thioantimonite solutions. This process is more promising owing to its high removal ratio of antimony, low production cost and environment friendly, which provides a positive guidance for the extraction of antimony from antimonial refractory gold ores.

Oxygen-Rich Side Blow Bath Smelting Technology — New Developments in China

Oxygen-rich side blow bath smelting (OSBS) technology was developed in 2000 based on Vanyukov process. This technology exceeds the traditional pyrometallurgical methods by its great processing capability, high metal recovery and environmental-friendly property. In the past 15 years, OSBS technology extended its application area from lead industry to bismuth, antimony and waste recycling industries, etc. This paper introduces the history and new developments of OSBS technology. The typical industrial applications examples of the OSBS technology in China, including high lead slag reduction, low grade bismuth-lead concentrate smelting and metallurgical waste recycling, are reviewed. Especially, the unique furnace properties and technical parameters are compared. Finally, the potential research directions of OSBS technology are summarized.

CH4 Reforming by CO2 and O2 Using Ni-M (M= Cu, Fe, Co, Mn, Zn, Cr) Bimetallic Aerogel Catalysts

Ni-M (Metal=Cu, Fe, Co, Mn, Zn, Cr) aerogel catalysts were tested for CH4 oxy-CO2 reforming. It was found that the Ni-Co bimetallic aerogel catalyst had the highest activity and stability in methane oxy-CO2 reforming among all the Ni-M aerogel catalysts. It exhibited a steady activity of 79 % (in terms of CH4 conversion) at 750 °C, which is the highest activity under a similar reaction condition as compared with those published in literature. Characterizations for the reduced catalysts indicated the formation of Ni-Co alloy, while other transition metals separated from Ni during the reduction process. Therefore, the active species in the Ni-Co bimetallic catalyst showed a stronger interaction than those in other Ni-M catalysts, which might be one of the main reasons for the better catalytic performance of the catalyst.

Determination of the Stability Constants of Mixed-Ligand Coordination Compounds in the Zn(II)-Nitrilotriacetic Acid-Ammonia System

By means of the pH potentiometric method, this work investigates the stability constants \(K_{ZnL{{(N{H_3})}_i}}^{ZnL}\) (i=1,2) of the mixed-ligand coordination compounds in the Zn(II)-nitrilotriacetic acid (H3L)-ammonia system at the temperature of 25±0.1°C ,40±0.1°C, 55±0.1°C, 70±0.1°C and ionic strengths of 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 (NaCl). The precise value for the stability constants are calculated with a continuously approximating method subsequent to the obtainment of their approximations via the half-integer strategy. The results indicate that the stability constants \(K_{ZnL{{(N{H_3})}_i}}^{ZnL}\) (i=1,2) increase with the decrease of temperature and decrease with the increase of ionic strength. The stability of the system is good, therefore the system can be applied to the leaching of zinc oxide.

Ligand Selection Model for Leaching of Low Grade Zinc Oxide Ores

A new ligand selection model is proposed for leaching of low grade zinc oxide ores. The model demonstrates that the formation constant between ligand and zinc ions plays a significant role in the leaching process. A series of leaching experiments with different ligand concentration are conducted to assess the selection model. The results show that when nitrilotriacetic acid is used as the leaching agent, the highest zinc extraction is obtained. The zinc leaching rate is 84.33% in the presence of 0.4 mol/L nitrilotriacetic acid and liquid-solid ratio of 10 mL/g.

Enrichment of Gold in Low Grade Copper Matte from Arsenical Refractory Gold Concentrate via Matte Smelting Method

To solve the problem of low leaching ratio of direct gold cyanide leaching from arsenical refractory gold concentrate, this paper proposed a matte smelting process for gold enrichment in low grade copper matte. The effects of copper content in the mixed material, ratio change in slag type, smelting temperature and reaction time on recovery rate of gold and copper were investigated. The experimental results indicated that the recovery rate of gold increased with the increase of copper content in the mixed materials, temperature and reaction time. It was also noted that the recovery rate of gold and copper were respectively 98.16% and 96.39% when the addition of copper content in the mixed material was 3%, slag type of CaO/SiO2 and FeO/SiO2 were 0.6 and 0.9 in 1250°C and the time of reaction was 40min. Most of the arsenic was oxidized into As2O3 existed in the dust. The results showed that the matte smelting method can achieve efficient recovery of gold from arsenical refractory gold concentrate.